Shades of Gray
by Nola
Summary: What started as a spiteful prank on Valentine's Day leads to a startling discovery for both Draco and Ginny.


_A/N:_ This is just a little ficlet I did on a whim the other day. It's my first Draco/Ginny fic, and I hope you enjoy it, cause there will be more D/G fics to come!

_Disclaimer:_ As much as I wish Draco belonged to me, he and all the other people, places, things, etc. belong to the goddess known as J.K. Rowling. And the only profit I'm getting from this is that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from sharing a fic with people who will hopefully leave a review *hint hint*.

~Shades of Gray~

_Love doesn't come in black and white;  
Only in shades of gray.  
Eventually, even the darkest of nights  
Succumb to the light of day.  
And when the ardent fire burns bright,  
The ice shall melt away._

Draco snorted softly to himself as he perused the green and silver card that his owl had just dropped onto his plate of eggs and bacon. _I had no idea Pansy wrote poetry,_ he thought, _but then again, girls do tend to pull out all the stops for me on Valentine's Day_. The only aspect of this fluff-ridden, red-and-pink-infested holiday he rather enjoyed was the onslaught of countless cards, gifts, and candies from his swarms of admirers, which never failed to feed his ego. _Speaking of food..._ he started to pry open a large box of exquisite chocolates that had been delivered to him from yet another anonymous admirer. _I reckon this holiday isn't so bad,_ he mused. _At least this year, it isn't as awful as it was in my second year..._ He shuddered vehemently at the memory of what Lockhart's idea of a Valentine's Day treat was. But then the corners of his mouth lifted upward into a wry smirk as he recalled the ridiculously silly valentine that poor, naïve little Ginny Weasley had given to Harry that day._ What a joke! Wonder if she's still fancying over Scarhead this year..._ He craned his neck in order to get a better look at the Gryffindor table. He spotted her quickly – it wasn't hard to catch a brilliant flash of flaming-red hair among the crowd of students – and he eyed her carefully as she rose from her seat and stuffed her schoolbooks into her backpack in preparation to leave for her first class. He found it a shame that such a strikingly pretty girl would waste her affections on the likes of Harry Potter. _But then again, what else can you expect from a Weasley?_ _I'll bet she'd do anything to get a valentine from Goody-Two-Shoes Potter... _He glanced down at his own massive heap of valentine cards, and an idea sprouted in his mind. _Wouldn't it be hilarious if I made her think she did!_ On an impulse driven by spite, he plucked Pansy's valentine off of the table, tore off the top of the card which bore the names of the original addresser and addressee, and slid out of his seat, following Ginny as she exited the Great Hall with Hermione.

He lurked behind the pair of girls, trying to look casual as he kept his stride in sync with the pace of Ginny's gait. He was able to go unnoticed as he dexterously undid the clasps of the bag that hung off of her shoulder, but at the moment he tried to sneak the valentine into it, Hermione abruptly whipped her head to the side to look at him, as if she was so astute that she could pick up on the fact that whoever was behind her was up to no good. Draco hastily drew his arm back and feigned an expression of guiltlessness, and he breathed a sigh of relief when Hermione resumed facing forward.

Once he had successfully slipped the valentine into Ginny's backpack, he meandered off down an adjacent corridor, absentmindedly contemplating his plans for the evening, which would surely include sessions of flirtatious banter with his many admirers in the Slytherin common room followed by a moonlit stroll with whoever he found to be the most attractive of his fawners.

"Ginny," Hermione whispered urgently as soon as Draco was out of earshot, "I just saw Malfoy try to put something in your bag..." she gestured for Ginny to check in her bag.

Ginny groaned, praying that it wasn't a dungbomb or some other nasty device that Draco might resort to using in order to grit her nerves. But then a thought occurred to her: if he had snuck something disgusting into her bag, why hadn't he stuck around to see her reaction?

She did a double take upon discovering an elegant emerald-green greeting card with an inscription written in ornate, stylish silver curlicues that had been placed inside her backpack. Her eyes traveled rapidly over the writing, though she barely absorbed a single word, and she murmured the last line to herself: "_The ice shall melt away._"

"What is it?" Hermione asked, shaking Ginny out of her trance.

"It's a... poem, I think." Ginny's voice was rigid with disbelief.

Hermione's eyes bulged, and she squeaked "Malfoy?! Give you a poem?!" loud enough for the entire corridor to overhear her. Many people stopped to gawk at her.

"Shh..." Ginny quieted down her friend.

"He can't possibly _like_ you, can he?" Hermione wondered uncertainly. "Oh, I hope Ron doesn't stir up _too_ much trouble when I tell him about this..."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You don't need to tell him, 'Mione, I can take care of myself. Even when I'm up against Malfoy." 

Hermione bit her lip. "I don't know, Ginny... Well, we'd better get going to our classes now, or we'll be late. See you at lunch?"

Ginny nodded, and the girls parted and went their separate ways.

* * *

Draco swaggered into the dungeon, took his usual seat between Crabbe and Goyle and in front of Blaise Zabini, and waited for Snape to begin the day's lesson. Blaise was another Slytherin who was just as malevolent and cunning as Draco himself, only Blaise wasn't notorious for his spite; he was secretive and stealthy, whereas Draco was inclined to openly attacking the targets of his malice.

"Draco," Blaise hissed in a low tone, leaning forward, "Rumor has it that you gave that little Weasley tart a valentine."

Draco, who had been lazily leaning back in his chair looking bored and unruffled, promptly bolted upright at this. "What?!" he spluttered, spinning around swiftly in his seat to face Blaise.

"I _said_," Blaise repeated, deliberately raising his voice to a volume that caught the attention of the rest of the dungeon's occupants, "I heard that you gave that Weasley girl a valentine."

The class swiveled around, wide-eyed, to get a glimpse of Draco. Draco spotted Pansy glaring at him with her arms folded accusingly, waiting impatiently for him to explain himself.

"Could it be, perhaps, that you have a crush on the little Mudblood-lover, Mr. Malfoy?" Blaise continued slickly.

"No!" Draco insisted, a rosy hue coloring his pallid face. "I meant it as a joke – I thought she'd think it was from Potter-"

But Blaise wasn't about to let this go. "And do you know _why_ you did that?"

"Because-"

"Because that's your way of handling your jealousy." Blaise interrupted, a twisted grin tugging at his lips. "You're jealous of Potter – and it goes beyond Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry – I mean you're jealous because Potter has unintentionally won the heart of Ginny Weasley. You just put all your energy into trying to refute it."

"That's ridiculous," Draco muttered darkly.

"Your denial only convinces me more. It's quite a tragedy, actually; if young Ginny came from a more... respectable upbringing, I'm sure she'd make a right catch. She's fairly intelligent, good-looking – even despite those second-hand robes – and, most importantly, she's a challenge."

"Some 'challenges' aren't worth it," said Draco disdainfully. He squirmed in his seat, getting the feeling that Blaise could somehow detect his innermost thoughts, which were currently in a panic over the possibility that Blaise could be right. He struggled against the crazy desire to sprint towards the door as fast as he could. The dreaded confirmation lingering in the back of his mind finally came into full focus.

_Damn it, I've fallen for Ginny Weasley!_

* * *

Draco stared into the gravy that laced his plate of mashed potatoes. _Ginny's eyes are that deep, rich brown color, only... lovelier. _He'd thought that, after an entire Potions class of having his mind consumed with images of Ginny while also having Pansy glare at him as if she was threatening to dump her cauldron of Laughing Brew on his head, lunch hour would serve as a relief from the notions that burdened his mind, but instead, they only proved that he couldn't stop thinking of Ginny. Just as he had done earlier that day, he craned his neck and his eyes skimmed the Gryffindor table, but Ginny was nowhere to be found. And he wasn't about to approach the Gryffindors and ask where she had gone off to, since Ron – who, judging by his furiously red face and tendency to frequently shoot vicious glares in Draco's direction, had learned about the valentine – would surely show him a new and particularly violent use for mashed potatoes if he came within two meters of him.

Draco nudged Tracey Davis, a Slytherin sitting next to him. "Er – have you seen where Ginny Weasley went?"

Unfortunately, Blaise overheard this. "Want to make her Valentine's Day complete, do you?" he taunted with a suggestive raise of his eyebrows. The sound of suppressed snickers rippled over the Slytherin table, and Draco's face flared a vivid pink, but he set his mouth into a thin, resolute line. "I just want to straighten all this out – make it clear that I _don't_ have any feelings for her but hatred." he said firmly, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

* * *

Ginny stood by the lake, gazing meditatively into its murky depths. It was troublesome enough that she was trying in vain to figure out Malfoy's motives for sending the valentine, but Ron had to make it worse by uttering swear words in reference to Malfoy every ten seconds and ceaselessly rattling off the innumerable ways he could critically maim him during lunchtime. She was sorry that she had raced out of the Great Hall without warning, but she just couldn't take it anymore. What was nagging her most was the faint hope that Malfoy might have romantic feelings for her after all, despite the years of constant derogatory teasing and verbal abuse. The hope was faint, but it was definite; there was no escaping its truth.

A sharp, icy voice from behind her cut right through her thoughts. "I do hope you're not sitting there pining over me, because if you didn't realize that I only sent that Valentine as a joke to make you think it was from Potter, then you'd be the thickest person on the planet, although it would be rather refreshing if you finally caught on to the obvious fact that I'm a much better catch than that four-eyes."

Ginny pivoted around, though she already knew that the owner of the voice was none other than Draco Malfoy. He was leaning against the trunk of a tree, his arms folded and his limber legs crossed casually at the ankles, appearing relaxed and without a care in the world as he regarded with narrowed eyes the redhead who had put a crease in his seamlessly planned Valentine's Day. The warmth that emitted from his lips as he exhaled mingled with the frosty air, creating a subtle mist around his face.

"Don't you dare try to make it look like _I'm_ the one who's after_ you_, Malfoy." Ginny sniffed, returning Draco's narrow-eyed inspection of her. "Keep in mind that _you're_ the one who went through all that trouble to give me a Valentine – regardless of what your intentions were – and _you're_ the one who went out of your way to come see me here."

Draco made a soft noise of derision, and his smirk broadened so widely that his lips parted, revealing immaculately white teeth. He pushed himself off of the tree trunk and started to walk closer towards her, as if his words would have more impact if they were said in a nearer proximity to the person they were directed at. "You _wish_ that I were going after you, Weasley, because you know that you couldn't get someone like me in a million years. Tell me, why would I be chasing after a dirt-poor, Mudblood-loving, utterly spineless, freckle-faced little girl?" Each insult struck her like a painful bolt of lightning, though little did she know that Draco was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince her.

"Shut your foul mouth, Malfoy! I'm not a little girl!" Ginny exclaimed in frustration, tilting her chin defiantly at the stubborn Slytherin blonde who was slowly advancing on her.

Draco stopped short and blinked, slightly taken aback by Ginny's sudden outburst. Indeed she was not a little girl, and he couldn't fathom why he hadn't noticed this up until now. The unworldly young Virginia Weasley who hero-worshipped Harry Potter and hid from the universe behind a curtain of timidity had vanished, and in her place stood a woman, mature and developed, who radiated an elusive sort of charm and poise and who any wizard would be lucky to call his own. The realization of this was like a mallet whacking him on his skull. Why hadn't he seen it before?

Ginny stared in amazement as Draco's impassive expression suddenly gave way to undisguised interest, without a trace of his trademark scorn.

"You know, this situation is rather funny," he murmured in his lofty drawl, leaning in closer to her. Ginny could smell the delicate yet intoxicating scent that lingered about him – he seemed to have captured the crisp, mild aroma of the chilly February air somewhere around his collar. "If people hear something, they automatically believe that they're hearing it because it's already true. But sometimes it works the other way around." He moved in even closer; their noses were nearly touching now. He licked his lips and continued, his cool voice barely a whisper, "Sometimes, what seems to be the result of an unexpected incident is actually the cause of it."

Ginny searched his metallic eyes, inwardly trembling and feeling slightly panicky. Faintly she wondered why it had taken her so long to notice how his wintry eyes had an immeasurable depth to them or how they held flecks of silver light that softened his harsh, piercing gaze. She swallowed hard, resisting the bizarre urge to kiss the mouth she had called foul no more than a few moments ago. Somehow she found her voice again and said shakily, "What are you talking about?"

Draco hardly heard her. His attention was focused on her lips, full and the color of soft rose petals. He was overwhelmed with an all-consuming desire to caress them with his own, predicting that they'd taste of fiery cinnamon. This thought made his mouth water. Spontaneously deciding to indulge himself in his whims, he covered the remaining distance between himself and Ginny and claimed her lips with his.

Ginny's initial reaction was to press her hands up against his chest in an attempt to shove him off of her. But instead, as if some spiritual influence stronger than her physical force was guiding her, her hands involuntarily snaked from his chest to his neck, and her arms encircled his shoulders. She had surrendered to him. Beyond all control and reason, she felt herself hungrily push her lips harder onto his, and her fingers eagerly dug into his sleek hair, which curled ever-so-subtly at the nape of his neck and was much softer and silkier than its appearance had led her to believe. She let out a faint, stifled moan as she effortlessly sunk even deeper into the electrifying kiss. Draco's touch shot shivers of pure ecstasy up and down her spine and made every muscle in her body tingle blissfully. It was the most irrational, unexplainable sensation she'd ever experienced. Even more astonishing to her was the fantastic realization that she didn't want to stop. She felt like if he released her lips she'd simply die, so she clung to him for dear life, her reeling mind filled with nothing but the irresistible flavor of Draco's mouth, and her heart screaming for more. 

Just as the kiss reached its peak of intensity, Draco halted and gently pulled his lips away, a startled expression passing over his face. Ginny wondered if it was because he hadn't expected the kiss to be so passionate, or if it was because he was shocked at himself for initiating it.

"Ginny," he breathed, and then his face broke into a smile. "Happy Valentine's Day." he said this awkwardly, wincing slightly at the way those trite words felt on his tongue.

A smile crept onto Ginny's lips. She didn't know where things would go from here, much less what the reaction of the school and her family would be when they discovered the unexpected yet expected events of the day, but at the moment she didn't care. After the wonderful gift that Draco had just given her, she was oblivious to everything else.


End file.
